Enraged Venezuela opposition escalates anti-Maduro protests

Venezuela's increasingly militant opposition stepped up its push to remove leftist leader Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday with rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of protesters and calls for a general strike and march on the presidential palace. Enraged by last week's suspension of their push for a referendum to remove Maduro and determined to end 17 years of socialism in the South American OPEC nation, Venezuela's opposition has sharply ramped up its tactics in recent days. Maduro, the unpopular 53-year-old successor to Hugo Chavez who has presided over an unprecedented economic crisis, accuses the opposition of seeking a coup with U.S. help. More…